British scientists have succeeded in proving the Lemba tribe of Zimbabwe     and South Africa descended from Jewish ancestors, according to a report by  the BBC.

According to the report, the scientists conducted DNA tests on a large sample of the Lemba people, which confirmed Semitic origins dating back more than two millennium.

The BBC says that the 80,000 Lemba tribe members abstain from eating pork, wear yarmulke-like skull caps, conduct ritual animal slaughter, and even put a Star of David on their gravestones.

The report says the tribe has an oral tradition that links them to the ancient Jews. They also circumcise their male children, which is not a common practice in Zimbabwe, but is one of the basic principles of the Jewish faith.

Members of the priestly clan of the Lemba even have a genetic element also found among the Jewish priestly line – known as Cohen.

“This was amazing,” Professor Tudor Parfitt from the University of London told the BBC. “It looks as if the Jewish priesthood continued in the West by people called Cohen, and in same way it was continued by the priestly clan of the Lemba,” he added.

“They have a common ancestor who geneticists say lived about 3,000 years ago somewhere in north Arabia, which is the time of Moses and Aaron when the Jewish priesthood started,” Parfitt told the BBC.

In addition, the report says, the Lemba have a sacred prayer language that combines Hebrew and Arabic, which indicates their roots were in Israel and Yemen.

“We have been a very secretive people, because we believe we are a special people,” religious Lemba singer Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave told the BBC.

The tribe even uses a religious artifact they say connects them to their Jewish ancestry – a replica of the Biblical Ark known as the ngoma lungundu, meaning “the drum that thunders,” which they say was made by Moses.

The tribe’s oral tradition says that centuries ago a small group of men began a long journey carrying the ngoma lungundu from Yemen to southern Africa.

The Ark went missing during the 1970s and was eventually rediscovered in Harare in 2007 by Professor Parfitt.

“Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science,” Parfitt said.

Despite their “Jewish roots,” many of the tribe are now Christian or Muslim, the report claims. But, says Perez Hamandishe, a pastor and member of parliament, “Christianity is my religion, and Judaism is my culture.”

Article taken from: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1154631.html

Make sure to see Drake when he comes to Syracuse University Friday April 30th for Mayfest

Sick of eating just plain Matzah and cream cheese? Me too! Here are some easy Passover recipes that require little more than a microwave:

Matzah Pizza Sandwich:

Things you’ll need: Matzah, pizza sauce, cheese

1) Take a piece of Matzah, put it on a microwave safe plate, and cover it with kosher for passover pizza sauce (don’t be afraid, be generous)

2) Load up on some kosher for passover cheese

3) Put a second piece of Matzah on top

4) Microwave for approximately 2 minutes and enjoy!

If you can find some veggies to put on your pizza and make it gourmet

Matzah Grill Cheese:

Things you’ll need: Matzah. butter, cheese

1) Take a piece of Matzah and spread some butter or margarine on it and place on a microwave safe  plate butter side up

2) Put some (or a lot) of cheese on the buttered side of the Matzah

3) Put a second piece of buttered Matzah on top of cheese (butter face down)

4) Cook in the Microwave for approximately 2 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and enjoy

Have any other recipes? Submit them to The Daily Schmear by emailing Ari Weinberger at arweinbe@syr.edu

Check out the video below to see how Israel has squeaked by the global economic meltdown on it’s way to becoming one of the world leaders in innnovation and entrepreneurship

Maya Saban has been present in the German music scene for some years now. Working with various famous German music artists as well as her success as a solo artist display what an astounding career she has had so far.

However, it all began long time before all these musical achievements.

At the age of 7, Maya has already been a little celebrity within her own family. At that time she already sang Jewish classics like “Jiddishe Mame” or “Papirosen” at weddings and other celebrations.

Being the daughter of a German Jewish mother and an Israeli father living in Germany, Maya had the luck to grow up in the beautiful multi cultural, musical, cosmopolitan and innovative city, Berlin.

Now, as an established artist, she works with the influences she has gathered throughout her life so far and puts them together in the new project Jewdyssee which she wants to share with the world.

Maya: Today, I want to connect my Jewish and my musical world. The expressive melodies and the deeply moving lyrics are crying out for a modern production. Accordion meets club beats, sweat,ecstasy and deep fascination with the stories of the people. With the mixture of modern pop and club culture and these traditional Yiddish songs, I particularly want to address to people who have not much to do with this culture so far.

Jewdyssee infuses Yiddish culture and expression in todays world by exploring the music and history that developed for a thousand years around the yiddish language and the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.

The songs do not only reflect the more than thousand year old, with partial tragic, history in the “Traditionals”, but also the never ending wanting hope, which draws from a clever and sharp humor.

“When I look at the Jews, i have little to be happy about. But when I look at the others, I am to glad to be a Jew.” Albert Einstein

Jewdyssee is the musical “yiddishkait” – it’s not only a way of living; it’s a way of celebrating. The band reinvigorates music tradition and culture, so people are surprised by the new presentation, the celebration.

What Nouvelle Vague did for Bossa Nova and Gotan Project for Tango in clubs, Jewdyssee is doing it for Jewish music. They modernise short stories about life, love, destiny and “glick” and bring it to the clubs.

The party can begin and with “a bissl glick” Jewdyssee will soon celebrate the “yiddishkeit” in your shtetl – with you!

For more information check out their myspace page at www.myspace.com/jewdysseemusic

Before Blackberrys, before the Internet, before telephones, it was there.It preceded the Yellow Pages, outdates the radio, and came way before the telegram. It is the earliest search engine, the world’s first directory and the oldest rolodex in the history of mankind.It is, of course, Jewish Geography.

Whether it was at the construction of the first Temple or your cousin’s Bar Mitzvah last week, if you needed to reach another Jew, you could scour the earth, spend hours on the internet, read an entire phonebook and maybe, just maybe, you would find someone you know.

Or, you could use Jewish Geography.  Because chances are the guy you’re looking for had dinner with your uncle Larry last week.  And his sister goes to grad school with your cousin Sarah.

Today’s Jewish population is one of the tightest-knit communities in the world.  If you don’t believe me, just think back to the last time you met another Jewish person on the SU campus.  Chances are the conversation went something like this:

Person 1: “So where are you from?”
Person 2: “_____ville, it’s about 20 minutes away from _______ city.”
1: “Oh yea, is that near ______town?”
2: “Yea, it’s about five minutes away.”
1: “Oh my gosh, do you know Sally Horowitz?”
2: “Yea!  We went to synagogue together all through grade school!”
1: “Oh then you must be that friend she mentioned with the brother who lives in Rochester.”
2: “How do you know about David?”
1: “He used to date my friend from back home.”

Does this sound eerily familiar?  It should.  Because if you’re reading this you’re probably in a Hillel right now, so if you didn’t have this conversation today already, you’re either over-hearing it right now or you will by the time you leave.

Heck, if you played “six degrees of separation” between any two Jews, you would win the game so quickly that you could spend your extra three degrees trying to find Kevin Bacon.

But why is this so?  How does every Jew in the known universe seem to know someone who knows someone who went to Hebrew school with your dad?

Whether it’s all the places where various Jews gather (synagogues, youth groups, law school, etc.) or that seventh sense we all seem to have that detects other members of the Tribe (our sixth sense tells us how to spin dreidels), some cosmic force out there connects us all to one another in some way.

Maybe it’s all part of some larger plan to unify us as a people.  Maybe it’s a complete accident.  Maybe this all just exists in our heads and we’re really not all that connected.  Maybe, just maybe, your grandpa George wasn’t actually stationed in Italy with your TA’s great uncle, and the Matthew you know from high school isn’t the same Matthew from your hometown that hooked up with your friend through J-date.

Who knows?  Something like this is impossible to measure.  All I know for sure is that when I need to find another Jewish person, there’s a whole network of people who could connect the two of us.

Some call that coincidence.  Some call it fate.  I call it Jewish Geography.